


The Plan

by Silex



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, Humor, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22722505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silex/pseuds/Silex
Summary: Post-war the humans and Aldalites are trying to negotiate, but discussion has stalled. Fortunately Marco has an idea.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	The Plan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FrenchRoast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrenchRoast/gifts).



> You said you were open to humor and that inspired me.

After everything that had happened they didn’t have much time together, but somehow they made it work thanks to Cassie. Out of all of them she was able to work organizational magic and seemingly bend time to allow the meeting to happen.

Marco’s implying that it would help with relationships between humans and Andalites helped enormously. He tended to get interesting because of his tendency to think outside of the box in most cases and the chance at a new perspective on things was one that Cassie jumped at.

They met at Cassie’s place, in the enormous garden she’d planted behind her house. Ax was there, of course, as he’d helped design the garden in a fashion that he described as ‘appealingly traditional’. He’d also helped her find plants from the Andalite home world that would grow best on earth, as well as helping select earth plants he found particularly pleasant.

The purpose of Cassie’s garden was twofold, a place to relax, but also to host visiting Andalites in comfort, for she took her duty as Special Assistant to the President for Resident Aliens very seriously.

And for some reason that Marco hadn’t made clear, he wanted the meeting to be there.

Careful landscaping and gentle, rolling hills made the garden seem much larger than it was, something Ax was especially pleased with. That and the aromatic plants he’d had imported from his home world. Seeing something iridescent blue next to mundane lilies was certainly interesting, and Tobias and Rachel listened intently to his explanation of the traditional Andalite design elements exhibited by the small water garden that had recently been finished.

Jake had other matters to attend to and was sorely disappointed that he was going to end up missing the meeting, but had requested that Cassie tell him all about it.

Marco, of course, was late arriving, showing up with an enormous sampling of fast food that he spread out on the middle of one of the tables set up in the garden.

“Okay, sorry I’m late, but this isn’t going to work unless I have examples,” he explained, setting out all of the food.

Rachel shrugged and helped herself to some fries while Cassie smiled politely.

Apparently she was as in the dark about the specifics and the fast food was as much a surprise to her as to the rest of them.

“Help yourselves,” Marco said, holding out an unmistakable blue box to Ax.

Ax was already half way morphed to his human form as he took the box, bringing a cinnamon bun to his mouth as soon as it was there.

Chewing with great relish, he mumbled a ‘thankyou’ around the gooey treat.

“And this is what I wanted you all here for,” Marco beamed.

“Fast food and watching Ax chow down on cinnamon buns?” Rachel raised an eyebrow.

“No,” Marco shook his head, “You’re so not seeing the big picture. No one is. This is our advantage.”

He gestured at the fast food in all of its brightly colored wrappers, as brilliantly colored and varied as any of the plants in the garden.

<<I’m waiting for the other shoe.>> Tobias raised a foot, wiggling his talons, <<Though a burger sounds good.>>

“Cheese, no bun, no catsup right?” Marco said, looking through the boxes and bags until he found the burger in question.

He held it out to Tobias who took it and flew up into a tree to eat. Even in situations like this he preferred to be a hawk.

“You get it, right?”

Cassie shook her head.

Ax on the other hand nodded vigorously, mouth too full to talk.

“Of course you get it Ax my man,” Marco laughed, “Any Andalite would get it. Cassie, they’ve at least brought it up with you, right?”

“No, I…” she frowned, “Most of what’s been discussed lately is allowing the Andalite military to acquire earth animals for combat purposes.”

“And that’s where things have stalled,” Marco finished for her.

Cassie nodded, “After what’s happened the Andalites are tired of war and don’t see why more military resources are necessary so they see earth as more of a curiosity than anything useful.”

“Because we don’t have the tech to offer them they think we’re primitive,” Rachel added, speaking from her involvement with the Andalite military. Her efforts in the war meant that she was on fairly friendly terms with some of their officers, often playing tour guide for them when they were visiting earth and had free time, “And the people here are afraid. The Yeerk invasion means that even if the Andalites helped us people are still nervous of them.”

“You can’t blame them,” Cassie said sadly, “We haven’t had the best introduction to aliens.”

“And I’ve got a plan to fix that,” Marco said, holding a carton of fried chicken up, “This.”

<<KFC?>> Tobias said from his perch, sounding enthused. Despite being a bird himself he had no opposition to chicken.

“Not just KFC,” Marco beamed, “Fast food.”

“Fast food,” Rachel repeated, “Because now I’m waiting for the punchline.”

“Will we be able to find human volunteers?” Ax wondered, before starting on another cinnamon bun.

“For what?” Cassie said slowly, “Because I don’t get it. How is this going to help relations between earth and everyone else?”

“It’s fast, it’s food and who benefits most from that?” Marco gestured grandly with the bucket of chicken, “Or who doesn’t have food, but if they could have it they’d want it fast?”

Cassie looked at Ax, “Andalites who’ve had the chance to acquire people do like trying food…”

Ax nodded, still chewing.

“I’ll say it for you,” Marco smiled, “I’m talking food tourism.”

“Food…tourism,” Rachel said slowly, as though the two words were as strange together as peanut butter and sardines, something that Ax claimed was a wonderful combination, but none of them had the nerve to try.

<<I think I get it.>> Tobias interjected, <<Sometimes, not just when I’m hungry or thirsty, I’ll morph to get a soda. Just for the sake of it. Or when Ax and I get together just to hang out we always try to get takeout or something, because it’s not something we normally get to enjoy.>>

Ax shot him a thumbs up.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Marco laughed, “You bring an Andalite to McDonald’s and suddenly they’re not so strange. Swing by a Dairy Queen to get shakes and they’re just like everyone else because who doesn’t love a milkshake?”

“Oh!” Cassie’s eyes grew wide, “I get it! That’s amazing. The Andalites don’t know what we have that they don’t, how we can benefit them, but that’s because it’s too obvious.”

“You have a saying about that, right?” Ax said, finishing his cinnamon bun, “You reach a person’s hearts through their stomachs.”

“Stomachs?” Rachel looked at Ax, “Plural? I did not need to know that about you guys”

“Let’s not get sidetracked,” Marco interjected, “What do you think, Cassie? Next time you have Andalites visiting instead of walking through your garden with them you wow them with an extra-large pizza with everything on it? That’s something they can’t have back home, unlike that what was it Ax, tipsa grass.”

“It’s not a grass,” Ax said, “It’s more closely related to moss in its preference for damp, shaded areas…but yes, as good as thispa is, it’s nothing like onion rings, which is the closest comparison I can think of as it and onions both use syn-propanethial-S-oxide as a defense mechanism and gain flavor from it, as well as its preference for areas where the water has higher saline content.”

“And there you have it,” Marco smiled, “We find some people willing to let the next Andalite prince to show up acquire and then we wow that prince with the king. Burger King that is.”

Ax blinked, “I thought Elvis was the king. Or are there many kings?”


End file.
